DENDRITICS

DENDRITICS was started in 2005 by former members of SCHERING PLOUGH Laboratory for Immunological Research (LIR) in Dardilly, France.

From their long experience at LIR, the team members of DENDRITICS have gathered complementary scientific and technological knowledge in different areas of immunology. The initial focus of LIR was in the biology of B lymphocytes, elaboration of human monoclonal antibodies, and in cytokine discovery (IL-3, IL-4, IL-7, IL-10, IL-17, GM-CSF). Our interest in cytokines led to the finding that human dendritic cells (DCs) could be generated in vitro from CD34+ hematopoietic progenitors cultured in the presence of GM-CSF and TNF-alpha.

The period from 1992 to 2005 saw the specialization of LIR in DC biology and was fuelled by a large-scale effort to discover and study the function of genes specifically expressed by these cells. This program led to a number of findings that contributed in particular to understanding the heterogeneity of DCs, the pathways regulating DC migration, the function of C-type lectin receptors in DCs and the activity of Toll-like receptors in DCs. Many novel genes were discovered through screening of cDNA libraries or through monoclonal antibodies raised against DCs.

This collective effort and the motivation of DENDRITICS team members to stay at the forefront of science now makes it possible to supply a broad range of monoclonal antibodies to DC research laboratories worldwide.